Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Tuesday 04/10 A.M. Quickie:Starting to Pick Things Up...

Trying something new today: Splitting up this usually large post into a few separate posts. Below, find my take on Imus (and how it relates to Cowherd). Above, find a take on Durant turning pro, the day's hottest story. Meanwhile, here is the usual Quickie-ish look at everything that matters this morning:

Kevin Durant turning pro: How good of an NBA player will he be? Or CAN he be? See the post above for a larger breakdown and a dedicated post to comment about it.

Julian Wright turning pro, too: As I wrote yesterday, he's the most versatile forward in the draft (yes, including Durant). He should be a lock for that 3-5 range, along with Al Horford and the next-best big forward available.

MLB: Phillies drop to 1-6. And Jimmy Rollins looks like a complete fool right now, after he boasted in the preseason that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East. The Mets had, have and will continue to have something to say about that.

(So will the Marlins, who are off to a 5-2 start after beating the Brewers for the 9th straight time. Miguel Cabrera had another HR, his 3rd of the season. He's my Stud of the night. Seriously: How can anyone -- outside of Milwaukee -- NOT like the Marlins?)

(As for Pitching Studs, how can you not give a hat-tip to Carl Pavano, for his first win in what feels like forever.)

MLB: Indians-Angels tickets selling like crazy... in Milwaukee. It shouldn't surprise you. Fans love novelty, and for Brewers fans, how much fun will it be to get to see two AL powerhouses in action. Question: What's the rooting interest here? Or do the fans have a rare opportunity to cheer (or boo) with equally reckless abandon?

Bonds wants 3,000 hits, and he says he wants to do it for his godfather Willie Mays. Hey, if Bonds can continue playing past this season and through 2008, more power to him. At that point, a mind-staggering 800 HR won't be out of the question.

MLB Injury: Who had "April 10" in this year's "Mike Hampton's season is over" pool? Meanwhile, Carpenter to the DL.

Reader Question: With Dan Wheeler taking over for Brad Lidge as closer in Houston (and having a decent save outing last night), reader David Sanders offers up a question for discussion: Given that Lidge appears to have lost it after the Pujols HR in the playoffs, who are the greatest examples of players who were never the same after some pivotal on-field/on-court moment? (I'd throw Mitch Williams out there. And let me cut this off before it even gets started: Donnie Moore.)

NBA: Who has the audio clip of Josh Smith cursing out his coach? Meanwhile, the Mavs clinch HCA throughout the playoffs. That's one step closer to the "win-or-bust" outcome: Anything less than an NBA title this season would be a failure.

More NBA: With their sixth straight win (when the rest of the league feels like it's fading), the Nuggets look like the West's Team No One Wants to Play. In the East, I wouldn't want to play the Raptors, who are also surging (and that's without Bargnani and Garbajosa).

With the Warriors surging into playoff positioning, there's no question that Don Nelson should be NBA Coach of the Year if his team makes the playoffs. It could be the best coaching job of his career.

Wooden hospitalized: Here's to another recovery.

Harvard hiring Amaker to coach hoops? (Mike Jarvis is reportedly the backup pick.) The best way for the Ivy League to earn national relevance is through hiring "name" coaches. Hell, Brown already has Barack Obama's brother-in-law.

John Pelphrey hired at Arkansas: If you can't have Billy Donovan, at least you can have his top protege. He'll have the Hogs near the top of the SEC West very quickly, and staying there as long as he stays at the school -- top-tier teams will come calling before too long.

NHL: Who says I completely ignore hockey? You all know I love a good piece of novelty. How about this one: For the first time in the modern era of the NHL, neither Stanley Cup finalist is returning to the playoffs. Playoff pick: Buffalo. Because whose fans could possibly want it (or deserve it) more?

Another NHL item. (Yes! Two!!) I think NHL.com's attempt to get celebrities to blog about the NHL playoffs is hilarious and inspired. (After all, I'm writing about it, aren't I? And I'm a self-professed non-fan.) Christie Brinkley? David Boreanaz? And -- yes -- Li'l Jon! I propose that the new slogan of the NHL Playoffs is, appropriately: YEEEEAAAAHHH!

i hope milwaukee comes out in support of the indians this week. ive lived in cleveland my whole life and visited milwaukee. the cities are virtually identical in so many ways. milwaukee is like what cleveland could be if anyone who ran this town had half a brain. i think the Major League factor will play in our favor. the last time they fille in for cleveland i think the tribe won the pennant. so i hope that life imitates artim pretty sure that milwaukee will also root for the indians, because they are the team getting hosed in this whole ordeal. so the sympathy factor is there. and apparently there were some incidents between the angels and brewers in spring training, which might affect who boos whom.here's hoping that the los angeles angels of anaheim get swept by the cleveland indians of milwaukee

Buffalo is a good pick for the Stanley Cup Finals, although it is a relatively safe one (President's Trophy winner). I think this is the year that the Senators actually get there, offsetting years of early exits. My heart says Detroit will be their opponent, but my brain says San Jose or Anaheim. Surprising article in today's Detroit News about the large number of playoff tickets still available.

Good luck to Julian. I think he's making a mistake but I can't fault him. The NBA drafts on "potential" and not whether you can actually play. He is not ready. He plays too out of control at times and absolutely disappeared during the second weekend of the tournament. He's not strong enough to play the 4 and doesn't have an outside shot. But when an NBA team is ready to shower him with a crap load of guarenteed money... go for it.

Reader Question: With Dan Wheeler taking over for Brad Lidge as closer in Houston (and having a decent save outing last night), reader David Sanders offers up a question for discussion: Given that Lidge appears to have lost it after the Pujols HR in the playoffs, who are the greatest examples of players who were never the same after some pivotal on-field/on-court moment?

Problem with David's thought is that Lidge lost it in September 2005, before the Pujols HR.

He was tipping pitches and got everything out of whack, physically and mentally, in an attempt to solve the problem. Now, he's all messed up.

I wouldn't call Anderson a star player or on the verge of stardom. But he was never the same after missing four consecutive free throws in Game 1 of the '95 Finals, blowing the lead for Orlando, who eventually lost that game to the Rockets in overtime and were swept in the series.

Dan, I like splitting up the posts like you did. Makes the comments easier to follow (or skip if I'm not interested in a particular topic). During the NHL and NBA playoffs, I suggest having a separate post each day for each sport, so that people can comment exclusively on those sports (and those who don't like hockey don't have to read our posts). Just an idea.

I wouldn't call Anderson a star player or on the verge of stardom. But he was never the same after missing four consecutive free throws in Game 1 of the '95 Finals, blowing the lead for Orlando, who eventually lost that game to the Rockets in overtime and were swept in the series.

The city of Orlando still hasn't recovered from that game. Nick Anderson hits one free throw, then we win game one. We have a shot at winning the series. And we might be talking about naming the city after Shaq.

Instead he misses the FT, the team gets deflated, goes terribly cold in the series, gets swept. The next season Shaq gets injured in a preseason game, the team returns to the Eastern Finals to get swept by the Bulls. Then Shaq bolts for the bright lights of LA, Penny revolts on Brian Hill getting him canned, Penny blows his knee.

The ning are going to win it all. We got screwed with the lockout and didn't have a chance to repeat when we had that amazing team. We are a bit iffy on the power play but man can we score goals.

The braves are looking pretty solid but I truly believe that when we lost leo mazzone we lost any real chance at winning. He has to be the best pitching coach ever. However the O's are tarnishing his legacy.

Rick Ankiel lost something but I can't remember if he lost it after a poor playoff outing or if it was in spring training he lost his control.

I hate the marlins because I am a D-rays fan. Yes if they make the playoffs and the braves or Rays aren't in I will have a slight interest in them since I am from florida, but other than that I could care less.

Speaking of celeb blogs on NHL.com the one that Elisha Cuthbert had was great. She is hot and she knows her hockey. Granted I think her BF is a hockey player and her brother played professionally but don't quote me on that.

Also, I hate the Marlins, simply because they are a travesty to the integrity of sport. Let me put it this way, as a Yankee fan, I'd root for the Red Sox in a WS against the Marlins, that's how much I hate them.

But my hatred of the Marlins is NOTHING compared to my hatred of the Devils, the team that ruined hockey. Go Pens!!!!!!!

Ankiel is the example I was thinking about. He goes from no hitter, to setting a playoff record for wild pitches, to being out of the majors (and no longer a pitcher) in very short order.

Another player I would suggest for that category is Byung-Hyun Kim. He is still a "serviceable" major leaguer, but he had a great year as a closer right up until he blew consecutive saves in the World Series.

Yeah they had an article in the Sentinel about that Magic team and how if anderson made that free throw we wouldn't have all this trouble trying to get a new arena. I do think though that Shaq would have bolted regardless since he wanted to play at being an actor/rapper. I have hated shaq ever since he took the money and ran and broke a city's collective heart.

I just looked at Byung-Hyun Kim's bio for 2001 -- and that guy was on the verge of being awesome. In the regular season, he had a stretch of facing 42 batters without a hit (6 walks, 22 strikeouts). In the playoffs, prior to the WS, he got out of 2 bases-loaded nobody out situations to get to the World Series. Even in the WS, he struck out 2 of the first 3 batters he faced, before giving up the home run to Martinez. In 2001, he had an ERA of under 1.9, and now he's a starter with a career ERA over 5.

The problem with the ning in goal is that we have one guy who is really good but he is basically a rookie in the NHL. I think he played 15 games over two years for the rangers before going back to Sweden to play. Holmqvist is really good. He has a decent GAA, he won twicer as many games as he lost and his save percentage is around 91%. The problem is our other goalie sucks and our defense lets there be too many shots on goal. If Holmqvist gets hot and lecavalier, st louis and richards do their thing we are a very hard team to beat. A lot of ifs I realize but anything can happen in the playoffs if you get hot.

BK Kim in the 2001 Playoffs...he has fallen completely off the map following the Broscious homer, which followed the Jeter homer which followed the Posada homer...which all preluded the greatest closer of all time blowing one of the biggest saves in his career...but he turned out just fine...

Here's a pitcher that never returned to superior status. Atlee Hammaker, in the 1983 All-Star game, gave up the only grand slam in All-Star history to Fred Lynn. He never returned to All-Star status, since then.

As for the NHL, I'm choosing my Sharks over Pens in the Stanley Cup Finals!

Anyone from SJ (Bay Area) heading out to Nashville, holla at me! I'm flying out tonight!

I think you mean Martinez and not Posada. plus, the error/broken bat hits to blow a save wasn't Rivera's "make or break" moment...that came with Alomar's HR in '97, Rivera's first season as a closer. Luckily (for Yankee fans), that didn't affect him for the following seasons.

An interesting follow-up question is "who has had a Kim or Norwood-like breakdown, fallen for a season or more and came back strong for a season or more"?

What gets lost in all the Imus shit is how he has to talk to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and these two assholes are somehow in charge of his suspension and firing. Imus was joking, but this is the true joke. These two known criminals and politicians think that just by the color of their skin they can control the fucking world. Honestly, I am more sick of Jackson and Sharpton than anyone. SOuth Park made a great episode about how these two think they are the emporer of black people. Why is NO one taking issue with this?

I'm trying to ignore the Imus thing because it got way too much coverage this morning on the Today show (I watch the first half hour as a quick way to get the news and weather, which they omitted to allow more time to Imus and Sharpton...and when I went back to see if I could grab the weather, they had Carville and Jesse Jackson). So, in short, I completely agree with ferocious bluebird. It was an ill-conceived minor joke (that was more sexist than racist) of the kind Imus has done for 3 decades. But it doesn't even come close to registering on the scale of Michael Richards or Mel Gibson.

I'm not saying that the Pens can win it all this year but every team they play should be afraid. The Ottawa match-up in the first round is a very good one for that team. The played well in Ottawa this past year and won the season series against them. Next round I believe that they would have Buffalo and I don't remember the season series but I do remember that the Pens played them tough. It will be very hard for teams to come into Pittsburgh and win because it may not be thought of as a hockey town the way Detroit or one of the Canadian cities is thought of as a hockey town but the city is crazy about this team. They are a young talented team. They have the best player in the league. This is a team that can do some damage. Problems would be if/ when they run into the Rangers, Lightning, or Devils though they have played the Lightning better this year than they have in recent memory. The Devils will frustrate them playing that boring slow clogged up hockey that they're know for. And the Rangers have been playing well though it's been a good match throughout the season

What about Mark Wohlers? He had close to 40 saves in '96. Then in the World Series, he gave up that 3 run homer to Jimmy Leyritz which swung the momentum back to the Yankees. The next couple seasons were a wreck. He got traded, injured, and diagnosed with anxiety disorder.

Has PacMan ever been convicted of anything? This is the dangerous precedent that I think is being sent. I work with defense lawyers, so obviously I have a bias, but isn't there still the presumption of innocence in this country? (Admittedly, I don't know all the facts of the PacMan case(s)...

So long as this is a result of being found guilty of breaking the law, I'm fine with this. But I really hope this doesn't set the dangerous precedent of guys simply having to be charged with something (or multiple things) before they are suspended.

Just because someone has a history doesn't automatically mean they're guilty of any new charges that are brought up.

Brian in oxford, do you remember how the Penguins got the number one pick in the 1984 draft? After the trading deadline in the 83-84 season, the Pens had a revolving door spinning full time between Pittsburgh and Baltimore, as pretty much every not-ready-for-prime-time minor leaguer got a cup of coffee with the Pens. They won the race to the bottom and the rights to draft Mario Lemieux.

Believe me, the NHL needed a draft lottery long before Gary Bettman was a gleam in David Stern's eye.

Oh, as for this year? Buffalo over Vancouver. Yinz are sleeping on Roberto Luongo.

I think Pac Man was found guilty in almost every case except the Vegas stuff which is still playing out, But I think the biggest issue to the NFL was that he didn't tell them about an arrest that they found about after he got questioned about what happened in Vegas.

The NFL makes it very clear that you must tell the NFL about all arrests/convictions even for minor things like driving on a suspended license (or was it a DUI, I'm not positive).

That combined with the Vegas mess, the sworn testimony of his drug dealer (Under Oath, the guy said that Pac Man needed to calm down and that "Jeff Fisher had been patient as a Motherf*****"), and whatever happened in their meeting together must have sealed the deal for Pac Man.

This is the problem, the NFL refuses to say exactly why they suspended for the season (Though, I do think he'll be back in week 10 as long he's not arrested or convicted in the Vegas thing). I'm sure it was partially the Vegas shooting, but we don't know if it's the drugs, the lying, or just the 9 arrests and 5 convictions in 2 seasons. I agree that the wiretap of a drug dealer isn't the best testimony, but it IS absolutely embarrassing for the NFL that a drug dealer is talking about the drug issues of one of their players.Also, I know the NFL wanted to take care of this before the draft, as to give the Titans a change to draft accordingly, which means that they couldn't take a wait and see attitude to the Vegas stuff, which is unfortunate.

Personally, I agree with the suspension, what do you think the NFL should have done...

July 13, 2005: Two weeks before training camp is scheduled to begin, Jones is arrested by Nashville police at Titans headquarters. He is charged with assault and felony vandalism stemming from a nightclub altercation.

Sept. 5, 2005: Six days before the season opener at Pittsburgh, Jones attends the annual Nashville Sports Council Kickoff Luncheon. Later, Jones has a loud, verbal tantrum when told he must wait in line for his vehicle, according to witnesses. He does not pay for valet service.

Oct. 25, 2005: Five days before the eighth game of the season, it is alleged by the state of West Virginia that Jones has violated the terms of his probation, going back to a suspended sentence after a barroom brawl during his freshman year at college. A judge extends his probation 90 days.

Feb. 6, 2006: Jones is arrested in Fayetteville, Ga., and charged with possession of marijuana. He is handcuffed after throwing a punch at an officer, according to police, and charged with a felony count of obstruction and two misdemeanors of obstructing police. The drug charge is dismissed in January 2007, although his mother Deborah and a friend, Marcus Bowens, are convicted of possession of marijuana. Jones will appear in court later this month to face the obstruction charges.

March 23, 2006: A Fayette County drug task force SWAT team serves a search warrant at the Georgia home Jones bought for his mother. When Jones steps out of his Corvette, a drug investigator notices that the car reeks of marijuana. Jones admits to police he has been smoking and that it will be several weeks before he is able to pass a drug test.

April 18, 2006: According to Nashville police, who cite surveillance camera footage, Jones is one of 12 people gathered at a gas station when a fight breaks out and gunshots are fired.

Aug. 25, 2006: Jones is arrested in Murfreesboro, Tenn., for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. At the Sweetwater Saloon, he is accused of assault by Toya Garth, who says Jones spit in her face and she spit back. A judge sentences Jones six months probation provided he stays out of further trouble.

Oct. 26, 2006: Jones is cited for misdemeanor assault at Club Mystic, a Nashville nightclub, where he allegedly spits in the face of a female college student. He is suspended for one game by the Titans, on Nov. 5 at Jacksonville.

Feb. 19, 2007: Jones is present when an early morning brawl breaks out at Minxx Gentlemen's Club in Las Vegas. Three people are shot. Club co-owner Robert Susnar claims the shooter -- still at large -- acted on Jones' behalf. Jones denies this. No charges have been brought against Jones.

___________________________________

That's only 2 convictions since he joined the NFL (plus one situation where I can only assume he pleaded guilty or no contest.) Plus at least on more arrest before college. So, 5 was wrong. Damn this misleading data.

The suspensions will be shortened on appeal. It's clear that this was entirely to send a message to these two players and everyone else around the league. The Bengals were an embarrassment to the league last season and the commissioner does not want that to happen again this year.

That destroys the Titans next year. They better hope that Ginn drops to them at 19 because their return game is going to be dreadful next year. It obviously also hurts the secondary because he was on his way to becoming a good cover corner. This is huge because the Titans did not make any huge splashes in free agency and the best corner in the draft is Leon Hall and he is a top 10 guy.

Whenever the newspaper and radio guys discuss Pacman here in Nashville they always mention that he has never been convicted of anything since he was drafted in 2005. He was convicted while at West Virginia though.

Six games into a new season, it's hard to believe this is the same Alex Rodriguez who got dropped to eighth in the batting order last October, the same Rodriguez who gets booed on a semi-regular basis at Yankee Stadium.He entered Monday leading the majors in home runs and RBI and added a prodigious opposite-field shot off Sidney Ponson in New York's 8-2 victory over the Twins at the Metrodome.

Rodriguez is batting .360 with five home runs and 13 RBI. Until now, no Yankees player had ever hit five homers in the season's first six games.

A-Rod = Mr. April. Once we call him a stud after labor day, I will buy the hype....

The NFLPA probably won't fight too hard on appeal for Henry or Jones. I'm sure the commissioner scoped that out before being too harsh. What are they going to appeal, that it is ok to do wreckless and criminal things that endanger the player, the fans, and the game in general? In this instance, it is truly all for one and one for all. A continued series of black eyes on the league could hurt revenue, which would then affect the salary cap, etc. As fans, the only vote we get is with our wallet, and that's the vote the NFL doesn't want to lose.

I see your points Natsfan, but I think that it is possible that the league checked with the NFLPA about the length of the suspensions and will overturn a small portion upon appeal. This would allow the league to establish a harsh precedent and allow the players to feel as they're being "fairly" treated. Personally, I don't think the penalties are too harsh because a professional athlete is getting ridiculously well-payed doing something that myself and a lot of people pay money to do (i.e., play sports). I just would be surprised if the suspension lengths stick.

As for ARod, the issue that fans (I) have is that he "compiles numbers". In other words, he gets his HR and RBI when they are not necessarily needed to win a particular game, like the 2 run HR yesterday, but doesn't produce when the team needs it most...which doesn't necessarily mean an April/May thing, but a clutch situation at all times of the year thing. But more instances like his walk-off GS from Saturday will effectively kill this complaint.

The suspension for Pacman will not be lessoned and according to what I have been reading there is no gaurantee he will be reinstated when the year is up. He has to follow all the rules laid out by the NFL and apply for reinstatement.

That's right, as fans of the NFL, we do NOT care if the players get hurt.

We'll be there.

We do NOT care if the players use PEDs.

We'll be there.

We do NOT care if DirectTV's Sunday Ticket screws everyone this side of the NFL Network.We'll be there.

Off the field arrests?

Ha! Less than half of us are bothered by players' personal conduct so...

We'll be there.

That's the conclusion I draw from an ESPN.com SportsNation poll, answered by over 56,000 visitors. Observe also...Have off-field incidents and arrests in recent years involving NFL players made you less likely to follow the NFL?

80.3% No19.7% Yes

So what this tells me is this... the issues the NFL thinks it has are really non-issues.

The League is so entrenched in its fan base's psyche, I think Roger Goodell himself could be arrested, and the NFL's approval rating would soar. Actually, that's probably a bad example... I doubt fans even care what the Commish does or says. Maybe if, say Manning or Brady were arraigned on 1st degree manslaughter charges you might have a drop in ratings/viewership/sponsorships/retail revenue/etc.

Might.

In our society, has the NFL become that powerful?

Untouchable?

Omnipotent?

Is there even an adjective that can do justice describing the League's trance on the public?

Or has our value system just plummeted so low that you can physically injure yourself, take drugs, injure others both in competition and by deliberate criminal acts, and be arrested for any variety of reasons, but as long as you are an NFL player, "John Q. Public" will watch you, cheer for you, heck, even buy tickets to your games, purchase your damn jersey, bobble head doll, and a poster for a kids' room.

I wonder if Roger Goodell even needs to save his League's persona if that is the type of positive fan response the NFL gets in spite of itself.

The polling results on NFL player violations don't tell the complete story, I don't think. I mean, first -- the poll is online in a major sports web destination, so people who read the site/ answer the questions are more likely to be the hard core fan base that is harder to sway than the casual fan (who the NFL most needs to appeal to for growth outside the Superbowl).

But as a sports junkie, I don't know that I care a lot about what players do off the field. But if I had a son who really wanted a PacMan Jones jersey, I might change my mind. If my niece asks for spinners for her toy Escalade like Henry, I might change my mind. So I might be in that 80+% on an ESPN poll, but I don't think that the poll numbers tell the whole story.

It might not tell the whole story, but when over 56,000 respondents answer, and 80% answer the same, that's a whole lot of people regardless of fan level/status to be agreeing it's a non-issue to gaining said respondent's market share. (Yes there could be repeat respondents, skewed demographics, etc., but there is still statistical significance there). It still staggers me.

I'd bet Bush would get an 80% approval rating on foxnews.com or Clinton would get one on cnn.com, so I don't think it is statistically significant. ESPN.com readers are more than casual fans -- particularly people who are doing it in the middle of the day when they should be working.

People love the sport of Football. Where else are they going to watch it? CFL? Arena? People won't stop watching the NFL over individual incidents, but they will want the NFL to boot out the bad eggs (unless they play on your team...)

@ToddThe NFL isn't a court. They don't need to wait for verdicts. And they shouldn't. Henry and PacMan put themselves in situations that make the league look bad, that's reason enough.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.